Posts Categorized / Local News

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – When it comes to merging towns to cut costs
and property taxes, state lawmakers may let voters in the
communities make the decision themselves.
The idea is among proposals considered by New Jersey legislators
debating how to cut the nation’s highest property taxes.
Lawmakers haven’t decided on the plan.
But after months of talking, they have begun debating actual
legislation.
They’ve also rebuffed municipal officials who’ve argued such a
move wouldn’t seriously cut into taxes that average six thousand
dollars per homeowner, twice the national average.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski says municipal officials will have
to prove the state needs 566 municipalities, the most per square
mile in the nation.
Wisniewski is co-chairman of a panel considering whether the
state should reduce its local governments — combining services and
slicing taxes that pay for them.
The panel is one of four that have until November 15th to
recommend property tax changes.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – A new poll has the Democratic nominee for
U-S Senate holding a slight lead over his Republican rival.
The Fairleigh Dickinson-PublicMind poll also shows Democrats
lining up behind Senator Robert Menendez and distancing themselves
from Tom Kean (kayn) Junior.
The poll shows Menendez with a 42 percent to 37 percent edge
over Kean among likely voters.
Menendez’s lead grows to seven points if voters who are leaning
toward a particular candidate are included.
The telephone poll, of 514 probable voters, has a sampling error
of four percentage points.
With about a month to go until the election, 81 percent of
Democratic voters say they support Menendez, while only ten percent
of Democrats say they will support Kean.
Kean had 19 percent of Democrats’ support last month, while
Menendez had 68 percent.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Newark is getting a new police director.
The City Council approved Mayor Cory Booker’s nominee by a
six-to-three vote yesterday. Gary McCarthy will start tomorrow.
McCarthy was deputy commissioner for operations in the New York
City Police Department.
Booker says his nominee is a proven leader in crime reduction.
But the 47-year-old’s temperament and judgment have been
questioned.
A judge in Bergen County last month criticized McCarthy for
getting into an argument with police who issued his daughter a
parking ticket in 2005.

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) – Two more Atlantic City politicians have
pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a corruption sting.
Councilman Ramon Rosario pleaded guilty today an attempted
extortion charge in federal court in Camden. Rosario admitted he
took 14-thousand dollars.
Former Councilman Gibb Jones, who resigned in August, pleaded to
similar charges. Jones admitted he took more than five-thousand
dollars.
They were the second and third city officials convicted in the
operation known as “Steal Pier.”
City Council President Craig Callaway pleaded guilty in August.

TETERBORO, N.J. (AP) – Residents who complain about noise around
Teterboro Airport might get a little peace.
Some air carriers have agreed to a nighttime curfew and a ban on
the noisiest planes.
The new restrictions are voluntary. But Congressman Steven
Rothman of Fair Lawn says he expects 90 percent of operators to
comply by the end of next year.
The new rules cover only about 50 percent of the operators that
fly from Teterboro.
The agreement will eliminate the loudest jets. It also would
create an eleven p-m to six a-m curfew on flights.
Teterboro handles a steady stream of corporate jets and many
small package cargo shipments.